Fridrik Olafsson
Notable Games

Fridrik Olafsson

20 celebrated games · 413 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 413 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1950.04.03 Barda, Yngvar vsOlafsson, Fridrik 0-1 Caro-Kann Defense: Two Knights Attack, Mindeno Variation 23 moves Birmingham U20 Birmingham junior international, April 1950 — the earliest game in an archive that runs to 2016, and Ólafsson is fourteen. Twenty-three moves with Black: 20...h6 21.Bxd4 exd4 opens the b8–h2 diagonal that the bishop has been aiming down since move eleven, and 22.Qd2 Qh2+ 23.Kf1 Nf4 leaves nothing to stop mate.
  • 1951.06.19 Olafsson, Fridrik vsLarsen, Bent 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Reshevsky Variation 49 moves World U20-ch01 The first World Junior Championship, 1951, against a sixteen-year-old Bent Larsen — also a study player here. Ólafsson gives back a piece with 37.Nxg4 hxg4 to open the king, wins the exchange at 43.Rxe5, and the b-pawn finishes it: 44.b6, 45.b7, and 48.b8=Q Rxb8 49.Qe7+.
  • 1955 Larsen, Bent vsOlafsson, Fridrik 0-1 Dutch Defense: Classical Variation, Ilyin-Zhenevsky Variation, Modern Main Line 24 moves Match Larsen-Olafsson +4-3=1 From the 1955 match with Larsen, which the record books +4−3=1 to Larsen — this is one of Ólafsson's wins, in twenty-four moves with Black. An Ilyin-Zhenevsky Dutch: 20...Bxf4 21.bxc5 Bg4 22.f3 Qh5 gives up a piece for the light squares round the white king, and 23.Bh1 Qxc5+ 24.Kg2 Bh3+ takes the game.
  • 1955.12.28 Olafsson, Fridrik vsTaimanov, Mark E 1-0 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Rubinstein Variation 34 moves Christmas Congress 1955/56-31 Premier Hastings, December 1955, against Mark Taimanov — a study player here and later a Candidate. Ólafsson gives a knight for the initiative with 16.Bxe7 cxd3 17.g4 Nxe7 18.gxh5, and the rooks and queen unpick everything: 31.Rxf4 Qxc1+ 32.Rf1 d2 33.Qxb4 leaves the d-pawn one square short and White a piece up.
  • 1956.09.09 Olafsson, Fridrik vsNajdorf, Miguel 1-0 King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation 40 moves Olympiad-12 Preliminaries C Moscow Olympiad 1956 against Miguel Najdorf, twice a Candidate and the man whose name is on the most-played Sicilian of all. A Sämisch King's Indian in which the white d-pawn decides: 35.d6 Bd8 36.Nxe5 Bxg5 37.Nc6 R4b6 38.Nxb8 Bxd2+ 39.Rxd2 Rxb8 40.e5 leaves both passers running.
  • 1957 Olafsson, Fridrik vsReshevsky, Samuel Herman 1-0 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Reshevsky Variation 43 moves Dallas Dallas 1957 against Samuel Reshevsky, the dominant American player of the previous twenty years — in a Nimzo-Indian line the record itself names the Reshevsky Variation. Ólafsson ignores the rook: 31.Bxe6 Qxc1 32.Qf5+ Kg7 33.Qxf7+ Kh8 34.Qf6+, and the checks run to 42.Qxb7 with the whole queenside collected.
  • 1957 Olafsson, Fridrik vsPilnik, Hermann 1-0 King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Yugoslav Variation, Exchange Line 105 moves Match Olafsson-Pilnik +4-3=1 From the 1957 match with the Argentine grandmaster Hermann Pilnik, +4−3=1 to Ólafsson — 105 moves, the longest game in the archive. The last forty are rook and bishop against rook, the hardest theoretical ending in the book, and Ólafsson keeps at it until 102.Rb7+ Ka6 103.Rb8 Rh5+ 104.Bd5 finally builds the net.
  • 1958.08.13 Gligoric, Svetozar vsOlafsson, Fridrik 0-1 Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense, Fianchetto Variation 41 moves Interzonal-04 Portorož Interzonal 1958 with Black against Svetozar Gligorić, Yugoslavia's leading player. Ólafsson lets his rook be taken on f6 — 35.Nc7 Rxa5 36.Rxf6 Rxc7 — because the passed d-pawn and the invasion square matter more: 37.d6+ Rc4 38.Rxc4 bxc4 39.Qc3 Rd5, and the queens finish it.
  • 1958.08.22 Olafsson, Fridrik vsFischer, Robert James 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defense 44 moves Interzonal-04 Nine days later at the same Interzonal — Bobby Fischer, fifteen years old, in the tournament that made both of them Candidates and Ólafsson Iceland's first grandmaster. Ólafsson takes the kingside apart: 34.Bxe6+ Kf8 35.Bb3 Rcxe5 36.Rxh6, then 38.Rxg5, 40.g5, 43.f6 and 44.Re8+.
  • 1959.09.14 Olafsson, Fridrik vsFischer, Robert James 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation 45 moves Candidates Tournament The 1959 Candidates Tournament, a year on and Fischer again — a Najdorf in which Fischer plays the exchange sacrifice 15...Rxc3 and Ólafsson holds everything. The queens come off at 37.Qf4+ 38.Qxf4 gxf4, and the extra material tells in a rook-and-bishop ending: 41.Rxf4, 42...Kxf6, 45.d5.
  • 1959.09.18 Olafsson, Fridrik vsPetrosian, Tigran V 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defense 66 moves Candidates Tournament Four days later in the same Candidates, Tigran Petrosian — four years from the world title, and the hardest man in the field to beat. Sixty-six moves: 47.e5 Ra1 48.e6 b5 49.e7 forces the rook to give itself up for the e-pawn, and the b-pawn simply repeats the trick — 62.b5, 63.b6, 65.b7.
  • 1959.10.03 Petrosian, Tigran V vsOlafsson, Fridrik 0-1 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Rubinstein System, Rubinstein Variation 76 moves Candidates Tournament Petrosian again a fortnight later, and now with Black — the second of two Candidates wins over the future World Champion. Seventy-six moves of rook ending: 56...Rf2+ 57.Ke3 Rxg2 58.Kf3 Ra2 59.Kxg3 Rxa4 wins the pawns back, and 71...g4 72.h5 Rh3 stops the last passer at 76.Rg8+ Kxh6.
  • 1959.10.29 Keres, Paul vsOlafsson, Fridrik 0-1 Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation 41 moves Candidates Tournament The 1959 Candidates again, with Black against Paul Keres — who finished second in that tournament and came closer to a World Championship match than anyone who never played one. Ólafsson wins a pawn with 22...Qxe3+ 23.Kh1 Qxc3, takes the a-pawn at 37...Qxa2, and by 41.Ra7 the queen and knight are simply loose in White's position.
  • 1962.03.06 Olafsson, Fridrik vsStein, Leonid 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Variation 32 moves Interzonal-05 Stockholm Interzonal 1962 against Leonid Stein, who would win the Soviet Championship three times in the next five years. Thirty-two moves: 20.Nc4 Rxc5 21.Nd6 lands the knight on d6 with the rook attacked, and after 24.Bb5 Bxd6 25.exd6 the pawn walks to 26.d7 and the rooks come to the seventh at 29.Rc7 and 31.Rd7.
  • 1963.07.15 Gligoric, Svetozar vsOlafsson, Fridrik 0-1 Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation 100 moves Piatigorsky Cup-01 First Piatigorsky Cup, Los Angeles 1963 — Gligorić again, with Black, and a hundred moves. Queens come off on move eleven and the whole game is rook against knight and pawns: Ólafsson gives the h-pawn to win the f-pawn at 85...h4+ 86.Kxh4 Rxf4+, and grinds it to 100.Kf4 e5+.
  • 1971.11.24 Olafsson, Fridrik vsTal, Mikhail 1-0 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Anti-Benoni Variation, Spielmann Defense 22 moves Alekhine Memorial-02 Alekhine Memorial, Moscow 1971 against Mikhail Tal — twenty-two moves, and the trap is the whole game. Tal takes the d-pawn with 17...d4 18.exd4 Rxd4, 19.Qc7 walks the queen behind the position, and 21.Re4 Rc8 22.Qxc8+ wins outright because the rook on d4 is hanging with check.
  • 1976 Olafsson, Fridrik vsKorchnoi, Viktor Lvovich 1-0 Zukertort Opening 40 moves IBM IBM tournament, Amsterdam 1976 against Viktor Korchnoi, who two years later would play for the world title. Ólafsson gives up the queenside pawns to keep the centre — 27.fxe3 Bxc4 28.bxc5 Bd5 29.cxb6 cxb6 — trades queens at 36.Qd4 Qxd4 37.exd4, and 39.d5 pushes the passer past both rooks.
  • 1980 Olafsson, Fridrik vsKarpov, Anatoly 1-0 Catalan Opening 40 moves Buenos Aires Buenos Aires 1980 against Anatoly Karpov, the reigning World Champion — beaten while Ólafsson was serving as President of FIDE. A Catalan: 32.c5 and 33.Rb6 take the seventh rank and the a-pawn, 35.Qa8+ Kg7 36.Rb7 pins everything to the back rank, and 37.Qe8 Bxe4 38.Bxe4 leaves the black queen with only checks.
  • 2000.04.01 Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich vsOlafsson, Fridrik 0-1 Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov Variation 33 moves Chess@iceland-A Reykjavik 2000 with Black against Korchnoi, at sixty-four and sixty-nine respectively. Thirty-three moves: 22...f4 23.exf4 Bxf4 24.Bxf4 Qxf4 opens the file at the white king, which never castled, and 29...Nd5 30.cxd5 Rxe3 31.fxe3 Qxd5 32.Rhg1 Rf2+ finishes it.
  • 2016.07.04 Jennings, Richard vsOlafsson, Fridrik 0-1 English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense 27 moves WchT Seniors 50 World Senior Team Championship, July 2016 — the last game in the archive, sixty-six years after the first, with Ólafsson at eighty. He takes the pawn on e4 with 12...Nxe4 and never gives the initiative back: 17.Bxf3 Nxc3 18.Bxb7 Nxd1 wins the queen, and 26...Rxd5 27.cxd5 Qe4+ collects the rest.
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